Marvel’s New Iron Man Is a Black Girl, and We Think It’s Fantastic

The comic book world has seen a rise in diversity and we couldn’t be more happy about it. From the Ta-Nehisi Coates-penned Black Panther, to the new Spider-Man being a Hispanic man and now Iron Man gets updated with a black girl taking over Tony Starks’ role.

Marvel comics recently announced there will be a new leading lady donning the armored suit. A 15-year-old MIT genius named Riri Williams will take over and become Iron Man following the completion of the comic book series, Civil War II.

In a interview with Time, Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis explains how Starks met Williams.

"In the latest issue of Iron Man, Tony is in a lab talking to himself, and he’s already aware that there’s some student at M.I.T. that’s reverse-engineered one of his old armors all by herself in her dorm room. He’s aware of her immediately," he explains.

"One of the things Tony does to distract himself from all the things going on in his life is he goes to find this young woman (Riri Williams) who is flying around the middle of America in an armor that’s not completely made to try to find out what her deal is."

Bendis also says he's not too concern about some of the racist comments by fans who are upset over the change.

"Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realize how racist they sound," he states. "I’m not saying if you criticize you’re a racist, but if someone writes, 'Why do we need Riri Williams we already have Miles?' that’s a weird thing to say. They’re individuals just like Captain America and Cyclops are individuals. All I can do is state my case for the character, and maybe they’ll realize over time that that’s not the most progressive thinking."

We think Iron Man needs a little girl power. So it will be interesting to see how Marvel introduces Riri Williams as Iron Man to the world.

Look for The Invincible Iron Man #1, starring Riri Williams, arriving at comic book stores and digital services this fall.